Please note: we have been online over ten years, and we want The Trek BBS to continue as a free site. But if you block our ads we are at risk.Please consider unblocking ads for this site - every ad you view counts and helps us pay for the bandwidth that you are using. Thank you for your understanding.

Welcome! The Trek BBS is the number one place to chat about Star Trek with like-minded fans. Please login to see our full range of forums as well as the ability to send and receive private messages, track your favourite topics and of course join in the discussions.

If you are a new visitor, join us for free. If you are an existing member please login below. Note: for members who joined under our old messageboard system, please login with your display name not your login name.

You can't give tell someone not to watch something because it sounds like you've never seen it.

My mistake, pardner... I thought the free expression of ideas was encouraged on this board. (It's not as though I concealed my ignorance of the show in question.)

Samuel Walters wrote:

You do realize that The Wire is a "cop procedural" show, right?

From what I've read (I haven't seen it yet, but I intend to), it gives more or less equal time across its several seasons to the cops, the criminals, the school system, the local government and the media. If so, while the "cop" sections might have procedural elements, that hardly makes puts the overall show in that genre. To be as much of a procedural as The Wire, then, Fringe would have to give more or less equal time to several different factions, which above posters say only happens from time to time. Or am I not adequately informed?

I didn't say Fringe wasn't good; it might be. I did, however, say that in structure (cop procedural with a guy and a gal) and genre (governmental paranormal investigations with conspiracy-laden story arcs) it gave every indication of being unoriginal.

Sure, a 98 for the incredibly acclaimed fourth season. You'll notice the lesser appreciated final season drops to an 89, and if the first season was listed it would be far lower. Many important critics panned The Wire during its first season.

Of course, Fringe still looks like an X-Files knock-off with a criminally wasted cast (Lance Reddick!) and no sense of mood to me. But I admit I haven't seen it at this point. Maybe if it lasts longer I'll give it a shot.

The Wire, in any event, is one of the finest television series ever made, if not thefinest. It's not perfect (the second season could have been plotted better, and the final season suffers from a reduced episode order), but it's hard to beat.

I caught the pilot for Fringe when it first aired and was severely underimpressed, so I passed on it. Maybe it gets better, maybe I should give it another chance (alternate universes? Mr. Spock? Sounds good to me) but the initial impression wasn't favourable at all. There was also some rather moronic technobabbly reason for the female lead to strip to her underwear, which, er, yeah.

Gaith wrote:

I don't want to hijack the thread, and have said my peace. I don't like procedurals, and my distaste increases in direct proportion to their lack of realism. Well, okay, now I've said my peace.

I don't like procedurals either, and Dexter is my favourite show on TV.

Weird. I do like the show less when it drifts away from the dark wit of being a serial killer, though.

__________________
'Spock is always right, even when he's wrong. It's the tone of voice, the supernatural reasonability; this is not a man like us; this is a god.'
- Philip K. Dick

I caught the pilot for Fringe when it first aired and was severely underimpressed, so I passed on it. Maybe it gets better, maybe I should give it another chance (alternate universes? Mr. Spock? Sounds good to me) but the initial impression wasn't favourable at all. There was also some rather moronic technobabbly reason for the female lead to strip to her underwear, which, er, yeah.

Tough to argue against the unimpressive beginning of the show, or with the technobabble expositions (which crop up more than they should). The show does get better, but its weakest aspects are the "cop procedural" elements. For me, the show generates just enough interest by way of its mythology and its characters (especially Walter) to justify calling it "entertaining." But I doubt Fringe will ever be mistaken as a great show like The Wire -- or even cutting edge like Dexter. It's possible, but Fringe will have to evolve quite a bit before that happens.